Mr and Mrs Shepard
by Nameless Grave
Summary: Diane Allers gets the interview of a lifetime: post-war era John Shepard. He's the most prominent figure in galactic history and she's just the right reporter to put him in his place. An epilogue, a romance and a family portrait. Guest starring Garrus Vakarian.
1. Reflexive kisses and extra moms

**Pre-word:** This story will appear slightly AU, in that it would seem I'm taking a lot of liberties with the established game endings. I try to stay as true to the game universe as I can and there _will_ be explanations as to why things worked out the way it did. You just have to be patient with me and the story as it unfolds. Please refer to my footnotes after initial reading, I hope they provide some insight and are appropriate without being overbearing.

At the same time, I couldn't have created this story without the inspiration of so many authors here on , including Tairis Deamhan, Calinstel, Sneaky Fox and 1054SS325MP – just to name a few. There are many, many others. Please look over their works and be sucked in like I was.

As always, happy reading and please review!

* * *

John Shepard stared idly out the starboard observation deck, watching the blue corona of FTL wash over and shear the surface of SSV Normandy. It was hypnotically calming for him and always a source of relaxation, despite having spent all his life on ships. It also never ceased to amaze him that he was more entranced with the magic of the blue shift than the fact that he was hurtling through the ether at relativistic speed. He took a lot of things for granted he supposed, living a life amongst the stars.

_Things like gallivanting around in a glorified space canoe._

The commander scoffed to himself, lifting a snifter of brandy to his lips. He pondered the drink as it stung its way down his throat. He rarely imbibed anymore, not since his cybernetic implants had been installed. Oh, he understood their purpose - to a degree, but if he had had his drudgers, John probably would have asked Cerberus to tone down on the implants a bit.

_At least let me get plastered once in a while_, he thought with a smirk.

The tiny, lithe figure tucked in the crook of his opposite arm shifted a little, murmuring something half-_khelish, _half-asleep – all adorable. John Shepard was a man of reflexes: the navy had made them into his routine, ICT had made them his religion, and baptism by fire had made them his every next breath. So when his wife made a noise in her sleep, he did what he was reflexively taught to do: he made a soothing motion to her side and gently kissed her _realk_.

"You know," Tali said, not bothering to open her eyes, "You're just wasting Ash's alcohol budget – not like it's going to affect you, silly human."

"You know me, sweetheart," he said, inhaling the remaining breath of the amber liquor, "I like to keep up appearances – wouldn't want the old crew to think I'd been sober this whole entire time."

She made an amused noise as she burrowed closer. "Was that always before or after the missions, Commander Shepard?"

"First one, then the other."

Tali laughed and promptly hiccupped, which caused John to chuckle at the sight, resulting in her slapping his chest none too softly. The commander reflexively kissed the top of her helmet once again.

"It's not funny, you primate," she said, huffing a little even as she settled back down on his shoulder, "This is _your_ child pushing up on my diaphragm – I can barely breathe normal when she's busy. ..probably bench pressing her umbilical cord or something."

He couldn't help but laugh at her little dilemma, reaching slightly with the arm holding her to caress her stomach.

"I always did know how to take your breath away, _saera_," John quipped, a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

Tali covered her visor with her free hand. "_Keelah_, you're worse than those awful action movies you keep watching. At least they were paid to say those milky one-liners-"

"Cheesy."

"Whatever," she said dismissively, "The point is, get yourself a speech therapist or a script doctor, I don't care which, and then apologize for leaving your demon seed inside me! I demand satisfaction, John Shepard."

The commander rubbed his chin contemplatively. "Hmm..If only there was some way where I could satisfy you _and_ still leave my seed inside you afterwards…"

"…John!"

He still made her blush and he knew it. Even after following him around the galaxy with an attachment of marines, krogan, Garrus and Jack, he still could do it. He obviously didn't need a speech writer, Tali knew, because he was masterful with words and always knew a hundred-and-two ways to turn everything she said into a segue about their sex life. What he really needed was a censor.

John, meanwhile, was quite amused with himself and reflexively kissed her to congratulate his egoism. "I'm sorry, my love, we just make too perfect a pair. Anyway, I didn't mean to wake you – you should be getting your rest, you need as much as you can squeeze in."

"Why are you up, my _hesh'la_?" she asked after some moments, reaching for his hand on her belly, "Are you anxious about tomorrow?"

"Not anxious, just wondering if it's necessary… You know how I hate these things, Tali, I never know what I'm supposed to be doing there. I mean, I barely know what to say when I get approached on Rannoch. And, yes, yes, I know what we're going to is a little more involved than just an after- party, so I should expect to deal with some fanfare. I just really wish it would stay a simple celebration and let that be that. Worst of all, I'm starting to suspect that they probably _won't _skip over me during the opening ceremony."

Tali craned her head to lightly touch his lips with her voice-light, something that took more practice to get right than either one would care to admit.

"People need to feel good, John. They need to get together and drink and yell and throw their arms up in the air. I know you've been dropped on your head a couple times since birth, but even you should remember: there was this little war that almost destroyed the whole entire galaxy. John, there was a time when people forgot what it was like to be able to celebrate anything, much less the spoils of war."

She disengaged her hand from his and wrapped her free arm around him, encapsulating her human.

"You may not remember it; you probably didn't even experience it. I know I didn't because of our separation after the Crucible was triggered. But think about the morale of the troops on the front, when it seemed we were all on the edge of oblivion. Then think how they must've felt when that weapon finally fired and all the sky just fell. I would've taken off my mask and let the heavens know how happy I was, _hesh'la_. And then there was you, you silly, wonderful, stubborn, heroic fool. You were there when life was at its lowest point and you were there when life was reborn in all of us. You can't separate Commander John Shepard from that event – _keelah, _John, they marked it down to the last one-hundredth of a second when the Crucible fired! That's why you're going tomorrow, my love. They'll need the symbol of John Shepard again. You're no less the reason for this galaxy's victory than the fact that this galaxy continues to exist today."

He beamed proudly at her, even if she didn't see the smile growing as she spoke. John tilted her head slightly, directing her chin until he could plant another reflexive kiss on the voice-light.

"You know, Admiral Tali'Zorah-Shepard _hal_ Normandy, you're becoming quite the motivational speaker. Who taught you so well, anyway? Should I be jealous..?"

She scoffed audibly as she settled back down onto him, content to go back to sleep. "I know that mirror in our bathroom gets more looks than I do, Shepard, so unless you're somehow threatened by the handsome, dumb primates I tend to fall for, I think we'll be ok."

"Well," John said, rather pleased with himself as he flicked his hair dramatically, "I do what I can, y'know-"

Tali rolled her eyes as she smiled, listening to John banter on despite his words being lost in the _swish_ of the opening doors behind them. She was almost tempted to crane her neck again, but decided she was far too comfortable with her pillow-lover.

"Commander," the stately, measured cadence of Karin Chakwas chimed from behind them. A moment later, she walked in revealing her arms full with a bundle of brown curls and blue eyes. A bundle that was too suspiciously awake for either Shepards to ignore.

"Mom," John nodded, a soft smile peeking from the stubble of his five-o'clock shadow.

He made sure to catch the eye of his old CMO before he addressed her as such. The commander knew she found the title quite endearing, though she would always tell everybody he was far too old to be her son. John would then disparage the fact that he only got his looks from the other side of the family. It was a running joke they had. Only he, Karin and Tali knew what the old dame truly meant to him since the loss of his father on Mindoir and his own mother to the line of duty. The people who had seen Commander John Shepard shed a tear were few and far between and the two women in the room now were the only two to have seen it happen more than once. That said, seeing Karin Chakwas hold his daughter like she had every right to do so, John suddenly found the lump in his throat difficult to swallow.

"How are both my girls?"

The doctor gave him a pointed look. "Nice try, Commander, but unlike the rest of the galaxy's women, I vaccinated myself against your silver tongue."

John seemed to contemplate that before reaching for a bottle of Serrice Ice, tucked conveniently out of view besides the couch. He winked once, knowingly, before he held up the snifter that had been warming in the palm of his hand.

"Well, you know what they say, mom, 'you can go to the doctor for the pills, but you go to the bartender for the medication'. I never bought into your whole _science_ thing anyway, probably all snake oil, smoke and mirrors. Now, _this _charm, this is undeniable, this is bankable; in fact, you can probably see my aura – hey, why aren't you guys listening to this…?"

Karin rolled her eyes drolly as she sat down next to Tali, who immediately sat up when she saw her daughter and already had arms wide open.

"Maggie, my little _ibiji_," Tali murmured softly, practically engulfing the two-year old to her chest, "Were you good for your _treta_?"

The little human girl nodded enthusiastically, holding up both hands. "Mama, I got two _tretas."_

The three adults chuckled as they became enslaved by the little wonder, with Tali palming both her daughter's hands in agreement.

"Yes, sweetheart, you do," Tali said, giving John a cocked eyebrow which she knew he could see despite the visor, "And if your papa could turn off his insufferable charm for two seconds, we can keep the number of grandmas you have on one hand."

"One hand?" the girl asked, wiggling her mother's right hand, causing the doctor to muffle her laughter.

"No, _ibiji_, I only wish I were that lucky. Your papa is a very promiscuous and lewd man and I don't really know how he deserved me _at all_. Ancestors only know how many other aunts and uncles you have that I don't know about."

"Feel free to hop in anytime and defend my honor, ma."

"I'm only here to set your bones, John, and I'm quite out of practice since you left command, so please do not feel badly about fighting your own battles, " Karin said, eyeing the glass of brandy, "And, Commander, for the love of God, I'm on duty and it's an hour into first shift."

"…"

"I suppose I can indulge just this once," the older woman said, eagerly taking the snifter.

"Were either one of you sober at _any _point when I was on the Normandy?!"

* * *

"So, I said to Kasumi, I said-"

"Lookit," Lieutenant Moreau finally said, holding both his hands up in frustration, "I get that you guys suddenly feel I'm the coolest cat to be around, even though Space Jesus is one deck below, but you really don't need to keep me company the whole flight."

The turian to his left leaned back, raising a ridged crest above his eye and stared at the woman across the cockpit.

"Joker," Ashley said with a shake of her head, "I know you like your porn, but you can't possibly spend a twenty-six hour flight staring at Fornax – because I for damn sure know you're not actually flying the entire time."

"What the hell? Where did everyone get this impression that I'm some sort of sex-looney porn-monger?"

The SPECTRE leaned back, giving her nails a quick polish. "You know that as the commanding officer of this ship, I'm privy to all the data flow in and out of our network, right?"

"How…?" Joker started, looking unsure whether or not to confirm his suspicion or bite his tongue, "I mean, I got this one program from Garrus. He said it was a secure VPN and it would tunnel my browsing data and keep it secure. He said it's what all the SPECTREs used and…hmm...Fuck."

Both Ashley and Garrus bit their respective lips/beaks as the thought dawned on Joker. That is, how ridiculous the notion sounded that he _wasn't_ the butt of another prank from the turian.

"Well, goddamnit, you overgrown bird – I knew I never should've trusted your kind."

"Turians?"

"Cops."

Ashley chuckled to his right as she shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Well, sorry, Joker," Garrus offered, not the least bit sorry, "but we can't bug Shepard when he's with the wife. I stayed with them for a couple weeks one night and it..it was traumatizing. The both of them are just all hands."

"Ew, gross.. I mean, how would they even go about at it? Y'know? Would there even be a vid of that or something? Not that I'm into that sort of thing, but, well maybe we should look it up.."

"Anyway!" Williams interrupted, holding up her palm, "So, you and Kasumi, eh, Garrus? Isn't that a little cliché – the thief and the cop?"

"Oh, you know me," Garrus said, kicking his feet back and waving one hand dismissively, "I'm always breaking new frontier: interspecies relations, treading the line between law and order, being so handsome that I transcend _two_ cultures. I tell you, sometimes it's overwhelming.. But I'm a one woman man, Williams, so please try to control your raging urges around me."

"Pig."

"Oh, hard-to-get, eh..? Well, you won't win me over, even if you want to send naked pictures of yourself to my extranet account – gvakarian at citadel/spec/gov, so _don't_ even try!"

"_Delusional_ pig!" she exclaimed, grabbing Joker's cap off his head and throwing it at the turian, "How do you know Kasumi isn't around listening to you propositioning other women?"

"I always know when she's around," he chuckled, ducking the flying cap deftly, "and technically, it wouldn't be propositioning until I have the reassurance of receiving them. And by them, I mean naked pictures of you. I mean, I _guess_ you could get me in trouble if you sent them to me – I'm sure she hacked into my account. So, y'know… that's really the only way you could incriminate me. By sending me pictures of yourself, you see."

"Enough!" the lieutenant-commander yelled, jumping out of her seat, "Freakin' hell, I thought I left this testosterone bullshit behind me when I left the corps.."

The woman stalked out of the cockpit, stomping her feet and muttering, letting the crew know for meters in advance that the CO was _not_ in a good mood. Garrus and Joker just stared at each other for a brief moment before breaking into laughter.

"Oh, man, I really missed having you and Shepard rile her up like that," Joker said, wiping his eyes, "it's like having three really annoying brothers in addition to her three really annoying sisters."

Garrus only nodded, resting his cheek plate on one of his fists. "She's a good kid though. I'm glad the _Normandy _went to her after all this, they couldn't have gotten a better-"

The turian felt his breath nearly stolen from him as an invisible weight plopped itself unceremoniously onto his lap. Moments later, the air shimmered in front of him and a light scent of orchids filled his scent glands. Unlike all her other perfumes that he had become intimately familiar with, orchids somehow stayed non-offensive across the dextro-levo spectrum of smells. Kasumi shimmered into view then and, not for the first time since he knew her, Garrus found himself forgetting the words on the tip of his tongue.

"Oh, hi, there…"

Those lips that he had become so enamored with curled into a slight smirk and her eyes glinted from under that infernal hood. She had beautiful hair and he never liked that they hid under that hood. That was the entirety of her being though, everything soft and flowing, nothing like what he had ever known – nothing like a turian should be or want. The thin, little thing wrapped her arms around his neck and settled in. She was always comfortable like that, always comfortable like home.

"Well, hi, tall, dark and mysterious," Kasumi finally said, her voice soft for him, "What's up with Ash? She almost ran me over."

He sat a little dumbfounded for words, looking at her as she tilted her head expectantly. He'd tell her about the exchange he just had with Commander Williams and Joker, for he had no qualms about telling her anything. For a master thief, she was surprisingly honest with her words and as a turian, he was ok with that. No, Garrus never had a problem talking to her – except for when he had problems finding words around her. In the background, he could see Joker trembling with laughter, probably thinking Garrus Vakarian was just about to get his comeuppance. He spread one mandible in a turian smirk.

"You might want to settle in," he started, making sure he had the pilot's attention, "So, I said to Kasumi, I said.."

The sound of Joker slamming his forehead against the center console and releasing an explosive sigh was heard clear through the CIC.

* * *

"John," his wife said, tugging on the arm she had entwined, "Are you sure this is the right hotel? I mean, there were a lot of other ones we passed, all of them closer to the event center."

The Commander shifted Maggie in his other arm as he looked down the hall at the top level suite. "I'm pretty sure. Allers said this was the least conspicuous one she could find and the most out of the way."

"Hmmph," Tali grumbled, wrestling that arm closer, "And just why, exactly, did she want to interview you in a hotel in the middle of nowhere? Hmm?"

John smiled patiently, leaning down to tap her visor with his forehead. "Baby, don't be silly, her message said the interview was about our whole family-"

"I know _exactly_ what this interview-"

He kissed her voice-light to interrupt her, which never failed to work. "-and I don't know about you, but if I can avoid a few fans, I'll accept a couple minutes' walk down an alley or two."

"A likely story."

By now they had reached the suite and before John could interject again, the door opened and Diana Allers, ANN correspondent, stood before them, smiling warmly.

"I thought I heard the two of you bickering," she said, drawing the both of them in for a hug, "I'm glad to see things haven't changed too much in three years."

"Not true," John said as he drew way and pointed towards Tali's stomach proudly, "Look what I did!"

The two women gave him pointed looks and Diana welcomed his wife into the room first before crossing her arms. "No, Commander Shepard, they haven't changed. One. Bit. That and this little doll you have are about the only things you did right. Hi, sweetheart, I'm Diana."

Normally, by this age, toddlers develop a sense of self, a sense of preservation that normally curbed the precociousness of their pre-vocabulary infant stage. It was this very same sense that would normally promote shyness in children. Maggie Shepard knew very little of this condition – at least, not when she was safe in the arms of her father. He provided her security, and a height advantage of no small consideration. Simply put, most people to her were quite puny this high up which helped to level the playing field. And, for whatever reason, watching her father shoot words out of his mouth and having people generally respond favorably to them made her bolder than she probably should've been. So, Maggie looked once at Diana and, not seeing her mom around, normally her fountain of knowledge, she turned to her dad with an inquisitive finger stuck in her mouth.

"Number three?"

Shepard almost doubled over in laughter, opting instead to just bury his face in Maggie's stomach, and waltz passed the confusion plastered all over the reporter.

"This is a nice place you booked, Allers," he said, looking appreciatively out at the cityscape, "Didn't know perks like this came with being a field reporter."

"You should know better, Commander," she replied bemusedly, heading over to activate the recording drones, "The only person more famous than the savior of the galaxy? Why, the person the galaxy sees on television with him."

"And here I thought you just kept me around for the frequent flyer miles."

"You always walk around with that smart mouth?"

"Nobody ever accused me otherwise," he said, finishing a quick glimpse of the corners before settling on Tali, "Besides, I reckon she has use for my smart mouth now and again."

His wife just stood frozen, her head held in her hands, _'keelah'_ half-muttered under her breath.

"Okay, hot-shot," Allers said, not the least bit perturbed, "Save the blooper reel for the interview, alright? Grab a seat, I just need to adjust the saturation on the drones and we can start."

John practically plopped himself down on the couch, making Maggie squeal a little from the thrill. Tali was convinced there was a little John Shepard deep in there who never got a chance to grow up. She never knew how to feel about the prospect of raising three children at the same time. After some thought, she entangled one of his arms again and relegated herself to her fate: that she loved being stuck where she was.

"So," Diana said finally, settling down on the couch opposite them and setting out waters for the group, "before we start, I just want to say that I'm pretty goddamn tired of the galaxy treating you like the next coming of the space pope. Honestly, I have no intention of making you look the slightest bit good in this interview. I only have one goal in mind this hour, John Shepard, and it's to take you down a peg."

To his credit, the man didn't seem the slightest bit fazed. In fact, he was almost amused at the thought. It was not, however, John Shepard who responded.

"Do you even understand the logistics of this, Diana?" Tali said, leaning forwards just a little, "Do you understand how out of control his ego is? It's a manifestation bred by trillions of people and then allowed to fester in this half-competent brain in my husband's thick skull. There's no stopping this. There's no escape for any of us. I've been bonded to him for three years; I've known him for twice that and loved him since I could remember. And each day I'm _still_ crushed by the weight of narcissism so great that it's actually tangible. My only hope is that my children will one day grow strong enough to defeat him…"

The look on Allers face was priceless but John was far too busy trembling with laughter to notice.

"Um, I guess..I guess a lot has changed in three years, Tali'Zorah."

"Tali'Shepard," she corrected, chin up and quite proud of it.

"You've been practicing?" the Commander inquired, giving his wife an amused look.

"People ask a lot of questions about your character, John. I can't be bothered to remember what I did or didn't say."

Diana cleared her throat audibly. "Guys, the camera has been on this whole time. Look, I may want to make him seem more human, but I'm not actually here to humiliate the Commander – Tali, outstanding job, by the way. I just really want to dispel the mythos around John Shepard. I think the galaxy could stand to accept that the living legend is just a normal man – a normal man who wants to leave the legend behind."

Tali looked up at her human, eyes inquisitive, though only John could know what they held. He leaned back, seemingly in contemplation, before he spoke.

"I think… that's not a bad idea, Allers," he said finally, a gentle smile on his face.

"I didn't think so either," she answered, pleased with herself, "Even you have to hang up your guns sometimes, Commander. So, why don't you start at the beginning; tell the viewers what you've been up to since the war with the Reapers. You know, you've been quite the recluse since then."

"Oh, you can blame Tali for that," he said, nudging her shoulders gently, "She's got this crazy thing against me being on broadcast. I don't want to say it's because I have too many good sides, but…well, I honestly don't know how else to end that sentence."

Tali simply made a disgruntled noise and turned her head haughtily the other way. John couldn't help but notice her arm was still around his. This amused him greatly.

* * *

**Diana Allers, post-production commentary: **(Camera focusing in on Diana as she's laughing) "_Oh, that was classic John Shepard. I expected no less. But the moment I heard it, I knew I'd be in for a _**long**_ interview…He was always kind of a smart-ass, though, but I guess being able to think on your feet is a requirement in his line of work. What can I say? He's got a loud mouth and he's proud of it. I'm sure he could talk his way pass the gates of Saint Peter if he needed to._

_That type of personality though, it attracts everyone to some extent, but the type of people that he tolerates to stick around him, that match him on that level – that's the caliber of his crew. You need to be quick, fast, intelligent, able and, most of all, deadly. That was his dirty dozen. Tali was always such a surprise, though. She was so quiet and timid on the ship; I almost couldn't believe she belonged with this group of…psychos. But you talk once or twice with the engineering crew, or even the bridge, and you know they worshiped the ground she walked on. She was just _**that**_ good apparently. _

_Still, seeing them together is something else. You'd think two cultures separated by hundreds of thousands of light-years would have nothing in common. _(She gestures to the replay of the interview) _But there you are: harmony in plain view. She's nothing like who she is with everyone else. You see her fighting back, giving as good as she gets, putting him in his place now and again. If you'd had known Tali for even two seconds previous to all this, you'd have never pegged her as that type of personality. Unless, of course, you belonged to a super-squad of devil-may-cry heroes; I guess you'd see everything under the sun at that point._

_And, John? Well, you'll see later in the interview how he is with his wife. There's no 'Commander' within a mile of that man. _(She shakes her head) _Watching the whole thing now, it's hard to believe he was the most dangerous threat to a race of super-intelligent, hyper-advanced galactic spider beings – who were called _**Reapers**_ for Christ's sake_**! **_It's crazy. And, besides, any woman that can settle him down and make him reconsider charging head first into danger…well, he has to be head-over-heels to accept change like that."_

**Notes:**

**1. Saera (Calinstel)**: term used when speaking to one's lifemate. Literal translation: My soul's soul. Other meanings include, but are not limited to: Keeper of my soul and My soul's protector. Most commonly used word throughout the fleet by a quarian when speaking privately to their lifemate. Though unconfirmed by any quarian, there are implications that this word holds extreme intimacy as well as absolute trust. No single human word or phrase encompassed all that this one short word implies as it appears to contain both dominance and submissive traits.

**2. Realk (Calinstel): **cloth covering used by the quarians. It is used to describe not just the hood seen on most but any material adornment.

**3. Hesh'la (Tairis Deamhan): **slang term for captain (hesh'alan - honorary/formal term) but with more familiar connotation

**4. Ibiji: **"baby" for lack of better definition, a sweetheart term

**5. Treta: **this is common vernacular for "grandma", not a formal tense

**6. Origin story:** I took liberties with Shepard's origin story. He lost his father and sister on Mindoir, but his mother served in the Navy and was away at that time. The Shepards were survived by John and Hannah, but John lost her to the line of duty at some point. What incident specifically I haven't figured out just yet (still working on my head canon.)

**7. Daughters:** The subsequent chapters will reveal the origins of Shepard's girls. Relax, I didn't resort to space magic. I think the science of my explanations will suffice.

**8. Ashley: **In my head canon, Williams went on to keep her SPECTRE-hood and was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander. She was given the _Normandy_ based on Shepard's recommendation.

**9. Garrus/Kasumi:**I just like this pairing, I can't explain why. I'm probably not going to ever flesh out their pairing, as other authors with greater ambitions have done a much better job than I ever could (see: Tairis Deamhan, elrey745.) Their romance does carry over from another fic that I have in the works, but its relevancy here is of little value.


	2. In which Tali is a big deal

**Pre-word: **I don't exactly know how to feel about this chapter. I do know that I wanted a lot to be said about Tali and Rannoch and the geth, but seeing it all typed out in words like that... I think maybe it'll seem a bit OOC for Tali. At the same time, I want to think that Tali is more than just a prodigy engineer with no social skills or that she only got by on pure luck and dash of cuteness. You don't make someone an Admiral, even as a figurehead, if they don't have the chops to speak publicly. In the end, I'm happy about Tali being more wordy than you'd normally expect in-game. But, of course, this is just the author talking. Anyway, happy reading and comments are most welcome.

* * *

"Hmm…I'm starting to suspect Tali wasn't exaggerating about that ego," Allers sighed, collecting her notes, "So you gave up a life of unbridled celebrity to move clear across the galaxy for love? If I didn't know better Commander Shepard, I'd say you're a bit of a romantic. Why don't you tell us what it was like making that decision?"

"Oh, it actually wasn't quite as hard as you may have thought. I'd do it again in a heartbeat," John replied, nudging his wife to little avail, "But probably most people knew I was going to settle down in Rannoch anyway. It's really very beautiful there, Diana, and for me that alone would've been enough to fight for. I think at that time, it was just one of a handful of planets not ravaged by war. In the end though, I didn't move there for the ambience. We both settled there because that was where each of our hearts was respectively stuck: me with Tali, Tali with the Fleet, the Fleet with Rannoch."

He smiled as he turned a palm up, seemingly at random. Despite having her head turned, Tali's hand shot out automatically for its counterpart.

"For Tali? For Tali, it was different. You know, I don't pretend to know what it was that the quarian people went through out there in space. You really can't relate to the type of isolation and feeling of emptiness that belongs solely to them. So, I can't imagine what it must've meant to finally return to the birthplace of your ancestors after so many generations afloat… "

John took a moment to rub at his unshaven cheek, chuckling a little to himself.

"Thinking back on it all, I was probably the worst qualified person to be standing there next to her when we landed. But she was important to me and that meant that Rannoch was important to me – and that means that they both always will be."

Tali still wasn't looking at him, but her helmet was a little downcast and her free hand began stroking the part of her _realk_ flowing parallel to her visor. It was a relatively new nervous habit that she had, but no less adorable than her finger twirling. He nudged her slightly and tightened the grip engulfing her hand.

"_Sha'heela."_

Tali's voice was so soft, Diana doubted the mic on either cameras caught it. Shepard smiled sadly, repeating the word in agreement and, much to Allers surprise, pronounced it perfectly.

_" 'Sha'heela'?" _she asked, "What does that mean, Commander?"

"It's _khelish_ for 'homesick', Diana. It's the type of homesick that neither you, nor I, nor anybody else in the galaxy could understand. It's…I guess it's a feeling that needed its own word to be created."

Allers paused, nodding in understanding as a moment of silence passed them. "I'm glad the quarian people won't need its use anymore, Commander. So then, the two of you have been hard at work building a utopia on Rannoch?"

"Oh, I'm awful at building things, Diana," John said, each hand now occupied by the two most important females in his life, "All my life, I've had the reputation of being able to tear things down pretty well, but the building part? Nah, these days if I'm not training marines, I just follow orders: go there, make that, hold this, kiss here, don't forget about…huh, something. Anyway, I can hammer a nail, or use a saw or follow instructions-"

"None of these things are true," Tali interjected, finally turning to face him, "Especially the last one – but _especially_ the last one. I think some days John goes out of his way to not follow directions just out of spite. Even when all we're doing is following the GPS to a new 'picnic' spot."

"GPS is for suckers. All I need to know is where magnetic north is."

"I keep tellingyou, Rannoch does _not_ have a magnetic field."

"That's because you're all blasphemers and the magnetic god has abandoned you."

"You are so frustrating, John'Shepard."

"You _are_ so frustrating, John Shepard," Diana butted in, knowing exactly how long the two could bicker for, "So, for once, we're going to let the brains of the operation talk. Tali, my dear, since we're unlikely to get any semblance of a point from the Commander, why don't you tell me and the viewers how things are going on Rannoch?"

Tali let out a small sigh and let her shoulders slump for only the briefest of seconds.

"It's still a work in progress, Diana. Colonizing a planet, even one that by all rights you should be familiar with, is a logistical nightmare at best. For instance, we initially couldn't start agriculture without irrigation, we couldn't _start_ that without potable water, we couldn't start _that_ without a nightmarish period of surveying and we couldn't start any of it without repairing half the Fleet's evaporators and desalination units – not to mention the Fleet itself. And that was just farming."

"Sounds rough."

She gave the reporter a self-deprecating shrug.

"What could we do? Basically, we had three-hundred years of ecology and planetary engineering backlogged before we could even consider building our first structure. That first year was very slow and _very_ frustrating – if I didn't have experience managing John, I'd have been a nervous wreck. But the quarian people will always prevail, Diana, and we've always done our best when we had to scrape by."

"You definitely have your work cut out for you," Diana said in agreement, "But what about the remains of your ancestors? I was under the impression that the geth were caretakers of a sort for Rannoch. Surely there were some parts of those cities that were still salvageable, yes?"

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? But the Morning War was…complete. The history books will say that our fathers left Rannoch because we were losing a war and faced with extinction. The truth is, we couldn't have come back due to the radiation. The few that stayed behind after the Migrant Fleet left, they initiated a nuclear protocol: we may not have had a home anymore, but neither would the geth."

"Tali, I'm so sorry, I had no idea…"

She brushed it aside. "It's in the past, Diana. I don't agree with what was done, but I guess when your race is about to be wiped out of existence you'll let just about any emotion take over. Maybe if our people had a Commander Shepard lying around three-hundred years ago, things would've been different. As it stands now, we have to restart fresh, but so did many others after the Reapers. We deserve no more consideration than anybody else."

"'Anybody else' aren't an endangered species, Tali," the reporter said matter-of-factly, "The quarians still stand at less than half-a-percent of their original population. I know getting back there is a long process, but at least now you have a home again, right…? So, how is everything otherwise?"

Tali let go another small sigh as she looked at her husband and daughter.

"I can't really say our horizons look clear just yet, but a large portion of our industrial and farming sectors are coming along and they've contributed the most to redeveloping Rannoch. Most of all…most of all, I think the galactic community is really giving our people a chance to prove themselves. We've received aid from so many Citadel systems and even the Alliance, despite how far away they are. I wish I could express the feeling and gratitude on behalf of Rannoch for being accepted again after all this time… It really gives me and our people hope for the future, Diana."

Allers smiled widely at the news. "That's beautiful to hear, Tali. No one could deserve it more than the quarians or yourself. But, as we're on the topic of the geth, the entire galaxy has been paying very close attention to the current dynamics between your two races. Now, granted the threat of the Reapers' put everything into perspective and John's efforts united so many who were once at war. But, as you revealed, none of them had so deep and troubling a history as the geth and the quarians. Is this peace real, Admiral Shepard? Can we finally put that issue to rest, once and for all?"

For a moment it seemed as though Tali had frozen and, not for the first time in her career as a journalist, Diana feared she had stuck her nose too far into a sensitive issue. John glanced briefly at his wife, assessing her mood in the fractions of a second only personal experience could afford him. Seeing no threat, he turned back to Maggie and preoccupied himself rubbing her tummy.

"I wish I could say 'yes', Diana. I wish I could reassure the rest of the galaxy that some mistakes won't be repeated. But really, the truce we have with the geth right now is fragile at best. There are so many who still don't trust A.I. as a whole and everybody else won't move beyond the blood that was shed between us. If you think about it, that in itself didn't really end until just recently. And for their part, I can't believe that the geth would place complete trust in a race that essentially spent three-hundred years plotting their revenge. Honestly?...Honestly, if it weren't for John brokering the peace between us, I don't think the quarian people would have extended the first courtesy. As much as I believe in the spirit of our people and the notion that this galaxy wants peace, I can't guarantee that things will stay the same…"

"There'll always be conflict in this galaxy, Tali'Shepard. But we're not talking two different peoples fighting over a tract of land here; these are two peoples who once shared the same creation point. Don't you think there should be peace just by the nature of that common bond?"

Tali paused, looking at her daughter once more and, unbeknownst to Allers, a soft smile graced her lips.

"They're not 'bad' people, Diana. The geth don't have 'evil' programmed into their coding. Everything else being equal, a geth platform is more likely to help an organic being if only to learn from that interaction. They're uniquely neutral otherwise. Organics, on the other hand, we're…irrational and unquantifiable. It leads us to behave unpredictably and for us that's beautiful, but to the geth that's unexplainable, even dangerous. To them, we're just as likely to be noble one moment and willing to evaporate our own home the next. You tell me why they won't trust us."

Allers chuckled a little. "I suppose when you put it that way, it seems a bit absurd. Yet, here we are, your family with a house on Rannoch built _personally_ by the geth. To my understanding, they've spent as many resources helping you rebuild as they have rebooting their own collective. And if I'm not mistaken, it's the first time since they existed that the geth are actually outnumbered by quarians. Do you think all these efforts are genuine?"

"I..I don't know, Diana. Would it be out of the question to consider that they're just keeping their enemy closer? Probably not. But that's not how the geth think. They don't use deception, even if they understand its concept. So, I ask myself why they would sacrifice so much if not as a sign of trust? Or, why they did all this and asked for nothing more than independence? It's probably not fair for me to expect other quarians to understand the geth the way I do. _Keelah_, if not for John, I probably wouldn't have expected it myself."

Tali shrugged her shoulders again, as if helpless from coming up with a better explanation.

"I guess the 'bottom line', as you humans put it, is this: both our races need time and exposure to each other to understand that…that we're no longer the same peoples we were three hundred years ago. And so long as I have a say in the future of Rannoch, I'll always consider the geth our friends and equals."

"You _are_ the authority on them as far as I'm concerned," Allers said, "I would think if the galaxy couldn't trust the word of Tali'Shepard, especially when it comes to peace with the geth, then we're in a sorry state indeed. But it's all comforting news nonetheless, Admiral, and I'm sure it'll give our viewers more than a little peace of mind. So, all that being said, with your leadership in maintaining this peace and helping oversee the rebuilding of Rannoch, I should think you're something of a big deal over there – am I right?"

The mirth on the reporter's voice was evident, though one would be more inclined to believe the quarian was suddenly being interrogated based on her demeanor. It was abundantly clear in that second that, unlike her bond-mate, Tali was quite uncomfortable being the focus of the limelight.

"Oh, um, I..well, I _am_ an admiral still, but I wouldn't say it's a position of celebrity or anything," she said, looking for all the world like a deer caught in the headlights, "It helps that I finally have a voice to help my people though."

"Oh, here we go," John said, rolling his eyes and keeping his attention on Maggie, "Mommy is Chief of the Rannoch Interior Ministry. She's _only_ the second most powerful quarian on the planet, but I guess it's no big deal or anything. How I ever got involved with such a…_peasant_ is beyond me. C'mon, even her job is lame: I mean, all she has going for her is final veto for any operations involving military, intelligence, state security or aerospace R&D. She's also the only person technically allowed to declare war on behalf of Rannoch. And, oh, yea, she _kinda_ defeated a couple building-sized bugs a few years back, so they all think she's some sorta superhero. Anyway, what a loser."

He turned to Tali to gauge the repercussions. She had one fist on her hip and probably the most gorgeous angry face on under that visor; he could only assume of course, for she had many beautiful faces after all. John let go of his wife's hand briefly so he could cover both of Maggie's ears. When he turned back, the look in his eyes almost made Tali forget Allers was in the same room.

"Sweetheart? You're a _big,_ _fucking_ deal."

Even Diana had to laugh at that. "Why, Admiral Shepard, I had no idea you'd been recently promoted. But I guess it should come as no surprise that the quarian people think so very highly of you – and as well they should, too."

Tali chuckled softly, reaching over to brush a stray hair out of the eyes of her daughter. "Well, I definitely wouldn't put it in the words John just used. It..It takes some getting used to, Diana. I lived so long in the shadow of my father, I guess I forgot what it's like having the power to say 'no' and not have it thrown back at me. But…I have John to thank for that. He was wrong about what he said earlier: he _does_ know how to build, he just can't do it with hammers and nails."

She took his hand again, meeting his eyes for a moment that was just long enough to be sweet. "He rebuilt the faith I have in myself from the ground up. I was once just a girl whose only confidence was being able to meet and exceed the expectations of others. I never questioned why until he asked me why. And when he found out, he built me something new, something entirely my own and sent me off to fend for myself because he knew I could. I came to have a voice and that voice is helping my people move in the right direction. That voice that's mine and that now belongs to the entirety of Rannoch – that voice was built by him."

He smiled widely at his wife, the first time Diana had ever seen that smile before. The commander leaned in again to nudge her shoulder with his and she simply responded by resting her head there.

"You _have_ been practicing haven't you?"

"I may have veto power, but I'm not quite up to yelling at the Ministry of the Interior just yet, _hesh'la_," she said as she shrugged, a smile on her voice, "And I may be a Shepard, but I think I'll leave the shouting to you…**_Anyway_** we're not here to make your head any bigger, so I'm invoking my privilege to have the last five minutes stricken from the record."

"We'll edit it in post-production," Diana said with a smile, "Try to make the admiral shine even brighter, right? Speaking of which, Mrs. Shepard, may I offer my congratulations?"

Tali's free hand reflexively went to her stomach, her visor dipping subtly, but enough for John to know her shy mannerism when he saw it.

"Oh, um, thank you, Diana," she said quietly, gently rubbing her side, "You know, it's a little funny, if not a little bittersweet…: when it finally happened, I felt the timing was so right, but in the same vein, I felt I had asked John to wait too much for this. We both wanted a home and a family after the war; I guess we just didn't account for the part where Rannoch was only barren land afterwards."

"Well, after all, Tali, it's only been three years since the Reapers," Allers said, "You both have so much time left to have a big family."

Tali nodded slightly but let go a tired breath. "I know, Diana, and it seems that way on the face of it. For us quarians though, the culture is a little different and, I suppose, not entirely the fault of living in a fleet of broken down ships. It just made us accept the fact that it was difficult to have something you called your own, because there was no place to hide and no ground to claim."

She paused, seemingly to collect her thoughts, but instead just leaned slightly against John's shoulder while he continued to entertain their daughter.

"And now you feel different," Allers completed, smiling warmly, "I hardly think anybody could blame you for wanting more now that the quarian people have their home back. But how did that affect you wanting a family with John?"

"I suppose it's a mindset that the quarian people have to escape, Diana, but it's one that's so deeply ingrained in our culture. I mean, how do you teach yourself to want when for so very long you never had the means? _Keelah_, the Fleet had a limit on the number of children a bonded couple could have! So you should hardly be surprised when I say I felt like having two heads about everything: to want to be me, or to dedicate everything about me to the Fleet. But then I'd just look at John and remind myself that, for some reason, he had such unfathomable faith in who I was and that he gave up so much so we could be together. I just couldn't see myself ever telling him: 'I'm sorry, but this is all I can offer you.' "

Tali tugged at her husband's arm once more, letting a gentle laugh escape her lips.

"The first time I met this one, I honestly didn't know how to act around him. John wasn't the exact opposite of quarian culture, but he was far removed from a typical quarian conversation. I didn't know how to feel about the awkward silence that sometimes lingered between us. So, I did the most logical thing and I fell in love with him. And, yes, people always look at me weird when I tell them that. I obviously didn't fall in love _because_ there were awkward silences; I fell in love because he always came back for more of them."

Diana laughed, probably more loudly than she should have. "It's difficult to believe that the Commander could ever let a conversation go silent enough to be awkward."

"Right?!" Tali agreed enthusiastically, "_Keelah_, he doesn't even need to be conscious to run his mouth. Sometimes I leave my helmet on just to be able to sleep."

"Now, wait a minute," John interjected, "my sleep talking is a legitimate medical condition and some people have told me it's quite charming-"

"_Who_ is 'some people', John'Shepard?"

"Oh, uh, doctors, of course, my love," he said, suddenly interested in Maggie's tiny boots, "All of them very, _very_ ugly. And largely asexual males."

"You're about to get a thermal clip full of 'medical conditions' if you don't start talking right-"

Diana cleared her throat, seeing where the conversation was headed. Any other time it would have been quite amusing to see Shepard working his way out of a pickle, but she had only so much data space to record with.

"Tali, my dear, I find it very difficult indeed for anyone but a saint like yourself to be able to put up with the Commander. I think you're quite safe. But just for posterity, tell us how you managed to build up the… perseverance to fall in love with him?"

She could tell Tali was still unappeased, but her husband's cowering probably went a long way in calming her. Still, it took more than deep breath before the Admiral continued her story.

"Hmmmph…after I admitted it to myself, I knew that I _wanted_ something in my life for once, I wanted something all to myself and I wanted that something to be a legacy with him. Though days like today make me rethink them… But that notwithstanding, after the war, the quarian side of me said I wasn't supposed to feel this way. I had to help my people rebuild, I had to lead us into a new world and, as a fleet-sister, I had to sacrifice until I saw the task done. So, I asked him to wait."

Her head perked up for brief second, as if to emphasize the ridiculous nature of her previous statement.

"Can you imagine, Diana? I asked the man I loved more than anything to wait. To wait while the world he personally saved for me built up around him, to wait when all his life he only knew action, to wait while his bond-mate gave away the responsibility and time that was due to him – and to do all of it indefinitely. Had I been a better person, I might've offered him a way out. But that was the girl I was before. I just…I just couldn't let him go. I couldn't **_be_** who I was without him. So, I did the most selfish thing I'd ever done in my whole life and made him stay... He knew what I did and I knew what I did, but do you know what this big, clumsy oaf of mine said anyway? …He just asked me how he could help Rannoch."

Tali rested her head on his shoulders once more, pulling his arm closer and looking dramatically subdued.

"Rannoch won't be rebuilt before I join the ancestors, Diana. The quarian people know I love them and, if not, then they surely heard it here first. Maybe for some, that won't be enough. But…I'm done chasing a finish line that's always moving faster than I am. And I won't stand to become that young girl again – the one that never knew when it was enough. But with John, I _know_ I have more than enough. We're…I don't know, Diana, we're…just what we need for each other. I know now that it's ok for me to want what's mine."

_And he _**is**_ mine, _she didn't bother adding.

* * *

**Diana Allers, post-production commentary: **(Camera rolling, Diana sits contemplating for several seconds) _"Well, now, _that_ was very interesting. A lot of people forget that quarians are by nature very communicative, very talkative, and they have to be, given the restrictions of their suits. There are so many emotions and subtext that are non-verbal. Being hidden in broad daylight the way they are, they have to be pretty conversational. Does that necessarily mean that they can't have secrets or be introverted? Obviously not. But I get the impression that to 'hold it in' is not a phrase in the quarian vernacular._

_So, what's that got to do with Tali'Shepard? _(Diana crosses her arms and leans back) _Y'know, a lot of this interview was more research than it was actually talking on camera. I wouldn't be nearly as good at my job if I didn't know the answers my interviewees were going to give – before I asked them. But that said, Tali still surprised me today. Talking with Shepard's crew, the ones who were with him since the beginning like Garrus Vakarian or Ashley Williams, gave me all I needed to know about Tali. At least, that's what I thought. Here she was, this bright-eyed, naïve, barely graduated young woman who only knew the galaxy from a wiki search, and all of a sudden she's thrown into an intragalactic soap-opera. That's a system shock to a degree I can't even imagine. And, from what I can gather anyway, Williams and Vakarian had reservations she could handle any of it. I get the impression she was afraid to step on too many toes and probably a little more defensive than she should've been. _

(Diana shakes her head, taking a sip of water)_ But seeing her today, I couldn't imagine she was anything less than a strong, self-assured woman who earned every bit of her commission as Admiral. Even hearing what she had to say about Shepard helping her with her confidence? I don't know…Sometimes, I have to take the words of lovers with a grain of salt, y'know – rose-colored glasses and all. Who knows, though? Maybe she did learn a thing or two from him. Or, hell, maybe she was indoctrinated by him. _

(Diana laughs, bringing up her omni-tool and flipping through messages)_ Look at all this. I have a ton of correspondences from Vakarian, Williams, Lieutenent Jeff Moreau, Chief Engineer Greg Adams, a Doctor Karin Chawkwas, Admiral Shala'Raan and so many other character witnesses who knew Tali from the beginning. She's right, she's absolutely right: she can't be the same young girl they knew. There was no trace of her today. She _**is**_ Admiral Tali'Shepard. I don't know how or when it happened, but I wish I had been there at the beginning to see it for myself."_

**Notes:**

**1. Geth: **In my universe, the geth did initially lose 'consciousness' when Shepard triggered the Crucible, but their collective was rebooted due to the efforts of the quarians. Whom and how, I will not say, as that remains a plot point for my other fic – if I ever get around to writing it. It just seemed weird to me that a magical wave of energy could somehow erase a finite amount of code from a set of harddrives. Bioware, make better plots!

**2. Rannoch Ministry of the Interior:** this is the executive body of government which takes care of federal and military affairs, national security, public administration, etc. This is the successor to the Admiralty Board, since the Migrant Fleet is now only used for defense. The Conclave still exists and governs day-to-day affairs for the local precincts/cities of Rannoch. The prime speaker of the Conclave is the _other, _second most powerful person on Rannoch. The hierarchy of the Ministry is as follows:

Tali'Shepard, Admiral - Chief of the Interior

Han'Gerrel, Admiral - Chief Commanding Officer

Shala'Raan, Admiral - Minister of Intelligence

Daro'Xen, Admiral - Minister of Technology

Zaal'Koris, Admiral - Minister of Governmental Affairs


End file.
